


Love and Desire

by DawnRouge



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Masturbation, Oral Sex, Sex, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-20 23:03:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12443787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnRouge/pseuds/DawnRouge
Summary: Draco Malfoy is no longer the same person he once was. Everything he thought he knew, all his beliefs are wrong. Returning to Hogwarts to complete his seventh year is torture. Everyone hates him, including his fellow Slytherins; they all despise him and his family. Hermione Granger is lonely and frustrated with her best friends. Enter the new Draco Malfoy, who she keeps running into while upset and desperate for a friend. Can she trust that he truly has changed?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> cross-posted from AFF... still a work in progress.. I lead a busy life so be patient with me. I will finish this story, rest assured!

Draco Malfoy was sitting in the now familiar waiting room at St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies, waiting to be called, when a copy of the Daily Prophet caught his eye. Curious to know the latest news on his former rival, Draco picked up the paper and quickly scanned the short article:

 

_The Chosen One Returns to Hogwarts_

_By: Rita Skeeter_

_Since defeating He Who Must Not Be Named, Harry Potter has secured his return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Mr. Potter missed his seventh year at Hogwarts, due to his pursuit of the down fall of You Know Who and was therefore unable to complete his N.E.W.T’s. “I wish to finish my education so I can fulfil my aspirations of becoming an Auror,” stated Potter in an interview with yours truly._

_Mr. Potter will not be alone in his return to Hogwarts. A handful of students who also missed school due to the War will be returning to Hogwarts on September 1st—_

 

“Draco, I’m ready for you,” said a kind old witch sporting Healer’s robes.

Roused from the article, Draco looked up and followed the witch, bringing the paper with him. Once inside the brightly lit office, and comfortably seated on his usual chair, Draco placed the prophet on the desk in front of the witch. “Did you know about this?” inquired Draco.

After glancing down at the prophet, the witch slowly tilted her head up to Draco and responded hesitantly. “I did see that and I planned on speaking with you about that today in fact.” The witch paused, waiting for a reaction from the blond teenager in front of her. Draco continued to look at her expectantly, so she pressed on, “I am of the opinion, that you should write to Headmaster McGonagall and request to return as well–”

“Are you mad?” interrupted Draco.

“Please let me finish,” begged the witch. “If you still so strongly desire to distance yourself from your father and the reputation that he has made for your family, and if you truly wish to change and have a chance at a future free from his oppression, then I believe it is imperative that you obtain a job and not just live off your inheritance. If you too return to school, many more doors will be open for you, thereby helping you achieve your goals. This is a chance to prove yourself and forge a new path.”

“After everything I’ve done?” exclaimed Draco, throwing his arms up in frustration. “McGonagall would never allow me to return; they would never trust me. They think I am scum.”

“You won’t know unless you are willing to try. I believe the new Headmistress would be open minded and willing to hear you out. By just asking to return, you are displaying a new side to yourself, a more vulnerable side,” said the witch with almost a pleading tone. “That is not something that would just be ignored. Also, I could see no reason for her to think you had any ulterior motives.”

Draco sat lost in thought, mind racing. He had not contemplated the possibility of returning to Hogwarts. Healer Jones had a point; if he could finish school, he would have a better chance at obtaining a decent job and perhaps build a new reputation for himself. But could he do it? Could he endure another year at Hogwarts surrounded by people who hated him, especially Potter and his gang? Working with Healer Jones the past few months had really changed Draco; opened his mind to new beliefs and possibilities for the future, but had he changed enough to be able to endure returning to Hogwarts? Could he put into practice what he had learned the past couple months and learn to let things go, to not retaliate, or let anger arise within him? Had he really changed or was he just fooling himself with grand ideas?

“Healer Jones, do you really think I could do it?” Draco asked hopefully. “Do you think I am ready?”

“I do Draco, I do not believe you were ever an evil person,” said the Healer honestly. “As I have told you before, your father tried to push his beliefs on you, and you, wanting to please your father, tried to follow in his footsteps, to make him proud; yet you knew the difference between right and wrong in the most critical moments. You chose to do the right thing, Draco. You are a good person, I am completely confident that you are changing into a better person, a kinder person; the man you were destined to be.”

Draco’s chest swelled with confidence, beginning to believe the witch’s words. He would do this; he would show the world the man he wanted to be, he would show them that he was not his father. He had chosen to be his own person and take a new path. With new hope surging through him, he stood to leave, pausing in the doorway. “I hope you are right. I’m going to send an owl to Professor McGonagall immediately. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck Draco, and remember you can always write to me if you ever need advice or someone to talk to,” said Healer Jones. Draco nodded and gave her a feeble smile before leaving her office.

****

Professor McGonagall was sitting in her new office, lost in thought. The new school year would begin in a few short days and she was supposed to have been addressing her new Headmistress duties but she couldn’t help feeling as if she did not belong in this office. To her, it would always belong to Dumbledore.

A sharp tapping on the nearby window stirred her from her reverie. A large tawny owl was perched on the window’s ledge, eager to deliver its letter. Professor McGonagall arose from her desk, crossed over to the window, and opened it for the owl. With a soft hoot, the owl hopped over the window’s threshold and stuck out its leg. She untied the letter and offered the owl a few treats she had near the windowsill. Professor McGonagall unfurled the letter and read:

 

_Dear Headmistress McGonagall,_

_I have read in the Daily Prophet that Harry Potter along with a few other students from my year will be returning to Hogwarts this fall to make up their 7 th year. I will completely understand if you do not trust me or do not wish for me to ever walk the halls of Hogwarts again. However, I wish to finish my schooling so that one day I may find employment and support myself. I wish to distance myself from my family legacy and one day repair my reputation. Will you please consider allowing me to return to Hogwarts as well?_

_Regards,_

_Draco Malfoy_

As Professor McGonagall finished reading the letter she sighed deeply. So, Draco Malfoy wished to return to Hogwarts? Clearly there could be no malicious or devious intentions behind this. The war was over. Voldemort was dead. As far as she knew, Narcissa Malfoy was keeping a low profile ever since she ran off with Draco the night of the Battle. Lucius was in Azkaban along with the other Death Eaters the Ministry had captured so far. She could see no reason for Draco to return to Hogwarts, unless he truly did desire to finish his education. Besides, after the War ended, she has been promoting the unity of the wizarding community. She would be a hypocrite for denying him of his request to return.

Professor McGonagall wrote a quick reply to Draco, instructing him to catch the Hogwarts Express as usual and that she would be meeting with him directly after the Welcoming Feast to discuss the terms of his return.

“Return this letter to Mr. Malfoy,” she said as she tied the letter to the tawny’s leg. The owl hooted in response and took off out the window into the early evening.


	2. Chapter 2

Draco arrived early to Platform 9 3/4, wishing to board the Hogwarts Express unnoticed and secure a cabin to himself. He was of age and therefore allowed to legally perform magic outside of school, so he planned on placing a charm on his cabin so it appeared full, hopefully deterring anyone from joining him. He knew that he would eventually run into Potter and his gang but was not yet ready for it, or for anyone else to sneer at him.

Ever since the War ended, all the known Death Eater’s and their families were scorned. He knew that would not change anytime soon, if ever, but he knew deciding to return to Hogwarts was the right choice. He would never free himself from his past if he did not take action to redeem himself and his reputation. He hoped that one day he could hold his head high and proudly declare himself a Malfoy.

Draco was pleased that the train was at the platform when he arrived, since he was 2 hours early. He did not want to risk anyone recognizing him. He quickly boarded the train and chose a cabin towards the front, as he knew Potter and his friends usually secured a cabin near the back of the train. After casting the wards he had practiced, he took a book from his trunk and placed it on the seat before stowing his trunk on the rack above his head. Choosing a window seat, Draco picked up the book and settled himself in for the journey.

****

Draco had successfully pulled off his plan and was alone throughout the duration of the journey to Hogwarts. When the train pulled into Hogsmeade, he slipped out of his cabin and squeezed himself into a pack of 2nd years waiting to catch a carriage up to the castle. He wasn’t naïve, he knew that within the next few hours he would have to confront many people, including Potter, face to face. He knew people hated him, but he wanted to prolong the inevitable as long as possible. He wanted to sneak into the Great Hall undetected, blend in with the other Slytherins, and enjoy the Welcoming Feast without incident.

So far everything was going as Draco planned, which made him uneasy, for things rarely worked out perfectly, especially for him. Shortly after he found a seat with his back to the Gryffindor table, Draco glanced over his shoulder and quickly caught sight of Potter. He snapped back around, and fought the urge to risk another peek.

Soon everyone was seated and Professor McGonagall came into the Great Hall followed by the group of first years. Professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat upon a stool and it sprang to life, belting out this year’s song:

 

_Again, we commence_

_another new year,_

_With the dark lord gone,_

_There is nothing to fear._

_Again I function only to divide,_

_But I insist that you_

_Put your differences aside._

_Unification will take_

_The utmost dedication._

_But among you lot,_

_Lies a wounded snake._

_Do not think his wounds are fake._

_With the love from a lioness,_

_His heart will be healed._

_The unity of the pair_

_Will cause some alarm_

_But do not despair_

_For they will rise up_

_Hand in hand,_

_Dispelling the past,_

_Faster than quicksand._

 

The Great Hall erupted into applause at the end of the hat’s song. Professor McGonagall resumed her position at the front of the hall to begin the sorting. Draco decided to chance another opportunity to glace back at the Gryffindor table, curious to see who else had returned this year. As he expected, everyone was preoccupied watching the sorting, which gave him time to scan the table. He easily spotted Potter again and next to him, as usual, was Weasley. On his other side was Weasley’s sister, but he did not see Granger. He would have thought she would have returned out of all of them. Perhaps without her in the way, being the best at everything, he might just have a chance to excel. Maybe, just maybe, if he achieved top marks, he could find a job after this year, despite who he was. Draco turned back around and got lost in thought, formulating a plan; he would focus all his efforts on his studies this year.

The last first year was sorted into Hufflepuff and Professor McGonagall stepped back up in front of the house tables. “Welcome everyone to the start of a new year at Hogwarts. I have a few announcements before the feast will begin. As always, the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students, unless accompanied by a teacher. Mr. Filch has posted all banned items to the house notice boards. Also, several students have returned to make up their 7th year, so expect to see some familiar faces and please make them all feel welcome,” she said glancing around at all the students. “This is a new year, the War has ended, and we have the opportunity to unify this school, to start fresh, to make an example of how we want the world to be, to move on from the past and build a brighter and peaceful future.”

The Great Hall burst into applause and excited conversations erupted all around Draco as the feast appeared before them. Draco glanced around the Slytherin table spotting a few familiar faces but no one from his year. He sat there eating quietly, without engaging in any of the conversations around him. He was unsure of how his fellow Slytherins felt about him and did not want to give anyone the opportunity to provoke him. He was on edge as it was and did not want to give Professor McGonagall an excuse to change her mind. He just wanted this feast to end and meet with her to discuss the terms of his return.

When the volume in the hall started to die down, Draco looked up at the Professor’s table in time to see Professor McGonagall rise to address the students again. After she bid them goodnight and wished them luck with the new year, Draco got up and hid among a group of Slytherins again, although he did not fear running into Potter or his friends now since their table was closer to the great staircase and they had already left their table. He broke off from the rest of the Slytherins as they headed towards the dungeons and proceeded up the staircase to the Headmistress’ office. When he reached the stone gargoyle, he realized he did not know the password. “Erm, I’m here for a meeting with Professor McGonagall.” The gargoyle sprang to life, exposing a spiral staircase up to her office. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door, hoping she was already there.

“Mr. Malfoy, thank you for coming, please come in and have a seat,” she said as she gestured towards her desk. “I will make this brief, as the hour is late. I have allowed you to return this year out of good faith. I know you are an excellent student so I expect you to keep up your marks.”

“Of course, Professor,” interjected Draco.

“Also,” continued Professor McGonagall “you will not be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activities without my express permission, and that includes quidditch.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“And I daresay you had best stay in line Mr. Malfoy. If I hear of any indiscretions I will be forced to take action. If you do not wish to be expelled, your behavior this year had better be different from previous years,” said Professor McGonagall pausing briefly.

“I assure you Professor, I intend to keep my head down and focus on my studies,” said Draco quickly.

“See that you do. Now, I know you did not have adequate time to get your books before term began, so you may borrow them from the library until you order your own. The same goes for any Potions supplies you may need. I have authorized Professor Slughorn to allow you to use any that are in his supply closet.”

“Yes Professor, thank you.”

“Finally, you will be sleeping in the 7th year boy’s dormitory. You may be familiar with some of the boys already. Now off to bed, you will need to wake up early to stop by the library before your lessons,” said Professor McGonagall sternly.

Draco stood up and crossed to the door, paused before departing, turned is head and said, “Thank you Professor. I assure you that you have not made a mistake in allowing me to return.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first few chapters are a bit short, but they do start to become a bit bigger. I go with what feels right. Hope you enjoy.


	3. Chapter 3

Draco awoke early and dressed quickly and quietly, hoping to not wake any of his dorm mates. He planned on going up to breakfast early and then get to the library as Professor McGonagall instructed to get his school books.

There were only a handful of students in the Great Hall when Draco entered. He quickly sat at the Slytherin table and helped himself to breakfast. As he reached for a slice of toast, an owl swooped down and delivered him his new schedule. He scanned the parchment and his stomach lurched. His first lesson was potions, which Potter and Weasley were sure to be in. Dread filled him, he was hoping it would at least be later this afternoon before he would have to face them. No longer hungry, Draco pushed his plate aside and proceeded to write down a list of books he would need from the library. He glanced over his shoulder at the Gryffindor table to make sure the coast was clear before crossing the hall and heading towards the library.

Draco stuck to the main corridors as he made his way to the library, assuming any older student would be using the secret staircases or shortcuts while navigating the castle. He passed only a few Ravenclaw girls that he did not know, seeing that the halls were still empty since everyone should be at breakfast.

Draco pulled the book list from his bag and proceeded to find the books among the stacks. As he turned the corner to retrieve the book for Ancient Runes, he saw a girl with wavy brown hair standing on tiptoe, reaching for a volume on the top shelf. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to help the girl and stepped up behind her and said, “Here, let me help you with that.”

He plucked the book off the shelf, handing it to the girl, catching a whiff of vanilla as she spun around to face him. “Thank y--- Malfoy!?” The girls face contorted into disgust as the book fell to the ground. Then recognition dawned on Draco.

“Granger?” Draco was dumbstruck. Hermione Granger seemed to have changed a lot since the last time he saw her. Her usually bushy hair was tamed into wavy curls and she was wearing the lightest touch of makeup, which he had only ever seen her wear before at the Yule Ball, nearly four years ago.

“What are you doing here?” Hermione snapped.

“I was trying to get a book but you were in my way,” started Draco.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. “No, I mean what are you doing _here_? As in Hogwarts?” she demanded.

“Well Granger, if you must know, I suppose I am here doing the same as you. I came back to complete seventh year,” he said coolly. He was trying to be a better person, knowing that his reputation was no longer worth anything, but he wasn’t about to start playing nice with Granger.

Hermione stared at him awestruck, apparently lost for words. He stared into her eyes, something he had never previously done. He had always been cautious to not appear too friendly towards any mudbloods. Now he didn’t care what anyone thought, least of all his father. He no longer sought his father’s approval. Still he knew he wasn’t about to become friends with Granger, but as he looked into her eyes he couldn’t help noticing the gold flecks interspersed amongst the chocolate brown. Draco cleared his throat, “I, erm, will just go get the other books I need and come back once you’re gone.” He turned on his heel before she could say anything else and left.

****

Hermione stood rooted to the spot, lost in thought. Malfoy was back. Why did he return for seventh year? Surely his mother inherited everything when his father was sent to Azkaban. If he was as rich as he always boasted, then why had he bothered to come back to school? It’s not as if he needed to finish school to get a decent job like the rest of the students who returned. Ha. Malfoy working! Now that was a funny thought. Yet here he was, back at school. He had to be up to something. Hermione snatched up the fallen book, stuffed it in her bag and raced to the Great Hall to tell Ron and Harry what just happened.

Hermione was panting when she got to the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Harry, Ron, and Ginny all looked up at her in surprise. “Whas srong ‘ermione,” asked Ron around a mouth of food.

“Malfoy! He’s back. I just ran into him in the library!” gasped Hermione.

“What?!” said the trio in unison.

“Are you sure it was him,” inquired Harry.

“Yes I’m sure! We were face to face, Harry. He said he was back for the year. He has got to be up to something. Why would he, of all people come back?” ranted Hermione.

“Why were you in the library Hermione? We haven’t even had one lesson yet,” whined Ron.

“I was obviously getting a book Ronald, but that isn’t the point! I assumed this would be a great year, we would be rid of that snake and his cronies

,” groaned Hermione.

“Well,” said Ginny “he was the only seventh year Slytherin last year that was missing from school, so he is bound to be the only one that returned. He won’t have any of his friends with him.”

“That’s not much of a consolation Ginn,” replied Harry. “But I guess there is only one thing we know for sure, we have to find out what he is up to.”

****

Draco arrived at Potions early, despite dawdling in the library after running into Hermione. He did not want to risk running into her again. He was taken completely off guard. He did not see her last night in the Great Hall, and assumed she did not return with her friends. He figured he must not have recognized her immediately without her bushy hair. What does it really matter though, he thought. The Golden Trio was back together this year, he expected that to be the case anyway, and it didn’t change anything. Wait, it changed everything. Last night he had hopes that she wouldn’t be around and he could be head of the class. Those hopes were now shattered, but he still had to do his best, Professor McGonagall expected it from him. Besides without his friends or quidditch to distract him, he would have spare time to spend studying. With only a couple minutes until the bell, the classroom began filling up, distracting Draco from his thoughts. Determined not to turn around and see the Trio enter the classroom, Draco focused on the cover of his Potions book, until Professor Slughorn addressed the class.

“Welcome to seventh year Advanced Potions. You are all here because you have thus far maintained the required marks. I will not lie; this year is going to be extremely difficult but I will teach you everything you will need to know to pass your N.E.W.Ts.” said Professor Slughorn. “Today’s lesson will be a refresher, as it has been quite some time since some of you have touched a cauldron. We will be brewing Amortentia, a potion you should all be familiar with. As you know, this particular potion will require you to work in pairs, so be sure to choose your partner wisely, as they will be your partner for the remainder of the year.”

Draco turned to the girl who sat beside him, who quickly looked away from him and to another Slytherin girl behind her. The class began to shuffle around, choosing their partners. He turned to look at the rest of the class, waiting for his new partner to come take the now empty stool next to him. There was only one person without a pair; Granger.

“Miss Granger, if you would kindly join Mr. Malfoy up front please,” requested Professor Slughorn.

Hermione looked over at her best friends, as if betrayed, snatched up her bag and walked towards Draco. She dropped her bag onto the floor and noisily dragged her stool to the far corner of the table before plopping down. Hermione looked over at Draco with piercing eyes before reaching into her bag for her textbook.

“The instructions are on the board,” said Professor Slughorn with a wave of his wand. “Please begin promptly, as this potion does take nearly 3 hours to brew. When you are finished, collect a vial and place it on my desk for grading.”

Again, Hermione turned to glare at Draco. “I intend on having top marks in this class and if you do anything to prevent that from happening Malfoy, I _will_ jinx you,” spat Hermione.

“I should say the same to you,” retorted Draco. “I may not like you Granger, but I’m not going to sabotage myself. Now, I’m going to go collect some items from the supply closet and when I get back I assume you will be ready to get to work,” sneered Draco and he sauntered off.

Draco took a deep breath once in the closet, trying to calm his nerves. Why did he have to get paired with Granger? Of all the people, it had to be her. He planned on working extra hard to outshine her for once, but now that he was partnered with her he didn’t stand a chance. Not to mention he now had to suffer through the whole year with a partner that loathed him. Maybe coming back this year was a mistake. No, if he could endure growing up with his father, he could endure one more year at Hogwarts. He took one more deep breath, steeling himself before grabbing the ingredients and walking back into the classroom.

Granger had her supplies on the desk when Draco returned from the supply closet. He unloaded his ingredients onto the desk next to her and turned to look at her. “Look, neither of us want to be here but we need to work together to brew this potion correctly. Let’s just put our feelings aside and get to work, okay?”

 Draco looked at her directly in the eyes, again close enough to see the gold flecks in them. He waited for her nasty reply but was surprised when she simply replied, “fine.”

Draco and Hermione worked together, talking as little as possible. The potion was almost complete, only 3 ingredients remained, which needed to be added simultaneously. Draco once again looked over at Hermione. “On the count of three?” he asked.

She looked over at him, finally without a scowl on her face, and nodded. “One. Two.”

“Three,” they said in unison, dumping the ingredients into the potion, which immediately turned a beautiful, shimmering silver. Draco inhaled deeply, wanting to smell the scents that attracted him the most, ensuring the potion was brewed correctly. He immediately smelled old parchment, pine, and… vanilla. Hmm that was new. He used to smell lavender not vanilla. Maybe they had made a mistake. He looked over at Hermione who was also smelling the potion. Her mouth turned up into a slight smile as she closed her eyes. She appeared to be satisfied, perhaps something had changed within him.

Deciding to ignore it, he picked up a vial and filled it with the potion. He put a stopper in it and walked it up to the desk. Turning back to return to his desk, he once again looked over at Hermione and caught her smiling. She looked up as him as he returned, still smiling, and held his gaze for just a moment before turning away to begin cleaning up. She had a nice smile, he thought. Wait what? He thought she had a nice smile? He was beginning to think he was going crazy. First, he decided to turn his back on his family and now he thought Granger had a nice smile. Resigned to forget about it, Draco started packing away his things.

“Okay everyone, class ends in 5 minutes. Please make sure you leave a sample of your potion on my desk before you leave. Also, be sure to read chapter one of the book for next lesson,” instructed Professor Slughorn.

Draco collected the unused ingredients from the desk and went to return them to the supply closet. He was crouched on the floor, returning a jar to the bottom shelf, when someone entered the closet. He looked up and saw Hermione looking down at him. “You missed this,” she said handing him another jar.

“Erm, thanks,” he mumbled.

“You’re welcome,” muttered Hermione, wringing her hands nervously. “I, erm, wanted to say thank you.”

“For what?”

“For suggesting we put our feelings aside and work together to brew a perfect potion,” Hermione said. “I’m also sorry for assuming you would sabotage it.”

“Well, I’m not so sure it was perfect. It didn’t smell completely right to me. I’m sorry if I made a mistake,” confessed Draco, running a hand through his hair.

“It smelled just right to me. Maybe it is you Malfoy, not the potion.”

“Maybe,” Draco paused. “And please don’t call me Malfoy.”

Hermione looked at him questioningly but just nodded her head and left the closet.

****

Hermione was taken aback by Draco’s words. Draco had not only been civil with her all lesson, but he also apologized! He had seemed genuine, but this was Draco; Draco Malfoy. The same Draco Malfoy who called her a mudblood and supported Voldemort. Why was he pretending to play nice now; what was his end game? The bell rung, signaling the end of class. Hermione’s thoughts continued reeling as she left the supply closet to collect her bag.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny were waiting for her by the door. “Geez, I’m really sorry Hermione. I didn’t mean for you to get stuck with Malfoy,” said Ginny guiltily.

“That’s okay Ginny, it really wasn’t that awful,” admitted Hermione.

“Not that awful?” exclaimed Ron. “Malfoy is a nasty little git. Everything about him is awful. I swear if he does anything to you I will curse him.”

“I can take care of myself Ron, trust me he won’t be a problem,” said Hermione, still pondering Malfoy’s behavior. She felt somewhat guilty being short with Ron but she dismissed it as he didn’t seem to notice.

“Let’s just go to lunch,” suggested Harry, putting his arm around Ginny.


	4. Chapter 4

Draco quickly slipped out of Potions the moment the bell rung and headed straight for his dormitory to drop off his extra textbooks before heading up to the Great Hall for lunch. No one paid him any attention as he entered the Slytherin common room and disappeared down the corridor towards the seventh-year boy’s dormitory. He pushed open the large wooden door and proceeded to his four-poster bed. Taking the books out one at a time, Draco placed them on his bed making sure to keep the novel he had been reading and his Arithmancy book inside his bag. Satisfied at having a significantly lighter bag, Draco hurried off to the Great Hall.

Draco walked into the Great Hall with his head down, glanced up as he passed the Gryffindor table but then quickly averted his gaze when he saw Weasley’s face locked with Granger’s. Feeling irritated he headed towards the Slytherin table. Settling himself at the end of the table, away from his fellow Slytherins, Draco served himself stew and pulled the novel from his bag. With any luck he would not be disturbed until it was time to head for Arithmancy.

****

“Ron, will you pass me a roll?” Hermione asked sweetly. Ron reached out, plucked a roll from the tray and handed it to Hermione.

“Thanks,” she said and gave him a kiss on the cheek, successfully capturing his attention.

Ron responded by planting a firm, open mouthed kiss on her lips, his tongue desperately trying to gain access into her mouth. Hermione quickly pulled away, looking around to see if anyone was watching them, relieved that no one was staring. She was not comfortable with public displays of affection and preferred to keep those moments private. She turned back to Ron, looking him in the eye, “Ron you know how I feel about snogging in public.”

“Yeah, sorry,” grumbled Ron turning back to his plate of food.

Hermione was trying to be sweet and show him that she cared but every time she turned around she upset him further. She knew he wanted more from her, but she was not yet ready to give all of herself to him. She knew Harry and Ginny were intimate and assumed Ron did too, but she wasn’t about to be pressured into having sex just because everyone else was. She wanted her first time to be loving and passionate, not obligatory. Sighing loudly, Hermione reached into her bag for her Arithmancy book, propping it up on a jug on pumpkin juice. Deciding she would try to talk with Ron tonight after dinner, Hermione resigned herself to reading while she finished her lunch.

****

Draco was running through the corridors from the Great Hall to Arithmancy, having lost track of time engrossed in the novel he had been reading during lunch. The bell would ring any moment and he refused to be late. Draco rounded the last corner and slowed down to catch his breath before entering the classroom, stepping through the door just as the bell rang.

“You’re cutting it close Mr. Malfoy, please take a seat,” said Professor Vector.

“Sorry Professor, it won’t happen again,” muttered Draco, dropping his head, avoiding the gazes of the entire class. Draco glanced back up to find an empty desk, and his stomach did a summersault when he saw that the only empty desk was behind, none other than Hermione Granger. With his heart beating fast, Draco took his seat and retrieved his book from his bag, placing it quietly on his desk not wanting to draw any more attention to himself.

“Good afternoon class. Please take out your copies of _Advanced Numerology and Grammatica_ and turn to page 5. I want you to use the chart and guidelines in the text to decipher the following,” instructed Professor Vector, tapping the chalkboard with her wand. “You will turn in your work for grading at the end of the lesson.”

Draco leaned over, reaching in his bag for parchment, quill, and bottle of ink. While gently pulling the stopper out of the ink bottle, Draco looked up at the back of Hermione’s head, causing his stomach to start another round of summersaults. Why was she making him react this way? Deciding he was simply nervous to be in competition with her, he dipped his quill into the ink and began the assignment.

Draco was flying through the assignment and only had one item left to go. He looked up at the board to read the next item on the list: _Choose a fellow student sitting near you and forecast the future between yourself and them._ Draco glanced around the room at his classmates contemplating who he would use for the last part of the assignment when Hermione caught his attention. She was scribbling furiously on the parchment in front of her, she paused to dip her quill into her bottle of ink, and flipped her hair over her shoulder before tilting her head back over her desk.

Inspiration suddenly dawned on Draco, he would use Hermione for the next part of the assignment, hoping he would predict himself beating her in lessons this year. Draco leaned forward, dipping his quill into his bottle of ink, taking a deep breath before diving into his work. A whiff of vanilla caught him by surprise, the same smell from this morning’s Amortentia potion. He took another deep breath, smiling at the pleasantness, shook off the thoughts of Potions and resumed working.

****

Hermione was becoming agitated, reading back through her work, struggling to find the mistake she made in her calculations. She chose to use Malfoy as subject of her assignment, hoping to shed some light on the real reason for his return, but she made an error somewhere. There was no way the future between herself and Malfoy was “full of love and desire.” The only desire she felt towards him, was the desire to never see him again and she would _love_ to find out what he is up to.

Glancing up at the clock, Hermione felt a wave of panic, class would be over in three minutes and she still hadn’t found her mistake. Trying desperately to concentrate, she started back over from the beginning, her eyes flying over the parchment.

“Alright everyone, time’s up!” announced Professor Vector. “ _Accio_!” Rolls of parchment flew to her desk from all around the classroom, stacking themselves in a neat pile.

Hermione’s heart sank, convinced she just flunked the assignment. It was not like her to make such huge mistakes. Perhaps her situation with Ron was affecting her, causing her to lose her concentration. With renewed determination to settle the matter, she packed up her bag and waited impatiently for the bell.

****

Draco was frustrated leaving Arithmancy. He wanted so badly to outshine Hermione this year, yet how was he to accomplish that goal if he failed the first assignment of the year? He was irritated with himself for allowing that stupid potion to mess up his concentration. Brooding over his mistake with the prediction regarding Hermione, and their future “full of love and desire”, Draco stomped into his dormitory, oblivious of the faces sneering at him.

Draco stopped dead as he spotted the mess covering his bed and the surrounding floor; all his books had been ripped to shreds, his trunk lay open at the foot of his bed, torn robes spilling forth. “What the bloody hell!” yelled Draco, enraged.

Three Slytherin boys stared back at him, smirking. “Something wrong Malfoy? Going to summon your mum to come and save you?” sneered the largest of the boys, instigating harsh laughter from the others. “You had best watch your back Malfoy. You are a coward and an embarrassment. I suggest you infest someone else with your filth! You’re not welcome here,” spat the boy and before Malfoy could respond the three boys sauntered off, slamming the dormitory door behind them.


	5. Chapter 5

Draco was furious, trying hard not to explode into an all-out rage. He did not expect a friendly welcome, but this was beyond what he imagined. Draco paced the length of the dormitory taking slow, deep breaths as he had been taught by Healer Jones, trying to calm himself. What was he going to do? He obviously wasn’t going to be able to stay in this dormitory and he was damn sure he wasn’t going to go cry to Professor McGonagall, that would only make matters worse. Yet where was he going to sleep; where would he be safe? Perhaps he would find an empty classroom. Contemplating the possible empty classrooms and the one he would least likely be caught in, Draco started gathering his possessions and tossing them into his trunk.

Draco slammed the lid of his trunk shut and cast a shrinking charm on it, stopping when it was small enough to easily carry in his bag, and stormed out of the dormitory without a backwards glance. Several Slytherins stopped to stare as he crossed the common room to the portrait hole, and he left without saying a word, with just a scowl on his face. Still not having made up his mind on where he was going to go, Draco set off wandering the castle aimlessly, hoping he did not run into any more trouble.

Nearly quarter of an hour later Draco was still wandering the castle, having travelled all the way to the seventh floor, when he stopped dead in in tracks, recognizing the familiar corridor. “Of course!” he exclaimed out loud. “Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner?”

He set to pacing back and forth in front of a stretch of wall thinking to himself, _“I need my own dormitory. I need my own dormitory. I need my own dormitory.”_ Suddenly a large oak door with an iron handle appeared on the wall before him. Elated that it had worked, he pushed open the door and broke into a grin.

The room before him was spacious and brightly lit. He stepped into foyer and dropped his bag, excited to explore his new living quarters. Around the corner to the right was a sitting area with a round oak table between two green sofas. In front of the large fireplace were two matching green arm chairs. In the corner of the room sat a writing desk stocked with parchment, an ink bottle and a large golden quill. The opposing wall was covered in bookshelves and packed full of books. Draco walked over to the shelves and ran his hand along the spines, laughing as he embraced his surroundings.  

After a few moments, Draco turned back towards the foyer, eager to explore the rest of the dormitory. To the left of the foyer was another large oak door. Draco walked over to it and pushed it open without hesitation. The bedroom before him was even more grand than the sitting room. A four-poster bed sat in the middle of the room, so large it looked as if it could easily fit three people in it. The duvet was the same dark green as the furniture in the sitting room, and black curtains hung on all sides of the bed. The bed had oak nightstands on either side and in the corner was a matching wardrobe.

Hardly believing his eyes, Draco continued through the room to a set of oak doors, opening them both and stepping into the largest private bathroom he had ever seen. The room before him was so grand, it rivaled the prefect’s bathroom. A huge marble tiled pool sat sunk into the middle of the floor, dozens of taps interspersed along the perimeter. Large marble stairs descended into its depths and disappeared, making Draco wonder how deep the pool went.

In the far corner there was a private, enclosed toilet. The adjoining wall had a long counter with several sinks, above which was a mirror running the entire length. On the opposing wall was a glass enclosed shower, with several knobs along the wall. Curious, Draco turned the first knob and a waterfall splashed down from the ceiling.

Feeling happier than he could ever remember, Draco pulled his robes over his head, kicked off his shoes, unbuttoned his shirt, shrugging it off his muscled shoulders, unbuttoned his trousers, letting them fall to the floor, pulled his boxers down and finally peeled off his socks. Now, completely naked, Draco stepped into the shower, letting the water wash away his troubles.

****

Hermione climbed through the portrait hole and into Gryffindor common room hoping to find Ron and have a word before dinner, however she was disappointed by his absence. Realizing that her walk from Arithmancy was much shorter than his, coming from Care of Magical Creatures, she decided to wait for him to return. She pulled a book from her bag and sank into an arm chair by the fire.

Before she knew it, half an hour went by without any appearance from Ron, Harry, or Ginny. Assuming they had gone straight to dinner without bother to meet up with her, Hermione felt suddenly hurt. Overwhelmed by the day’s events, tears began to spring from Hermione’s eyes. Not wanting anyone to see her cry, she quickly raced upstairs to her dormitory.

Relieved to find the room empty, Hermione collapsed on her bed, her body racking with sobs. She could hardly believe what an awful first day back it had been. Not only was she having trouble with Ron, which caused her to mess up in Arithmancy, she was also stuck having Malfoy as her Potions partner; for the entire year!

Hermione suddenly burst into a fit of derisive laughter, realizing that she had spoken more with Malfoy today than she had with Ron. Malfoy had even tried to be kind to her, which was more than she could say for Ron. If he wanted to pout and avoid her because she pushed him away earlier, then fine, she would let him. Why should she be the one to run to him to talk things out? She didn’t do anything wrong.

No longer wishing to see Ron, or any of her other friends, Hermione knew she should leave the Gryffindor tower soon before they returned. Deciding to send a letter to her parents, Hermione picked up her bag and rushed down the stairs and out of the portrait hole.

 

****

Feeling better than he could have possibly believed, Draco stepped out of the bathroom, with just a towel around his waist. He walked back to the foyer where his forgotten bag lay, picked it up and returned to his bedroom. Reaching inside, Draco pulled out his trunk and with a wave of his wand, returned it to its’ regular size. He opened the lid, pulling out the loose pages of the destroyed books, and stacked them on the floor next to himself.

Finding the wad of torn robes, Draco carefully laid them out on the floor next to each other. “ _Indumentis Repairo,”_ he proclaimed with another wave of his wand, mending the robes. He gathered up the pile of robes and inspected his work. Seeming satisfied, Draco got dressed, then returned to the mound of shredded library books. _“Libros repairo,”_ he commanded and the pages began to fly around rapidly, organizing themselves back into their proper form. In a matter of moments, a neat stack of books were in front of him.

Draco’s stomach growled with hunger. Hoping he could still make it to the Great Hall in time for a late dinner, Draco checked the time. Pleased to see he had enough time to swing by the Owlery to send an order off to Flourish and Blotts before going down to dinner, Draco walked to the desk in the sitting room. He hastily wrote down the list of books, stuffing the piece of parchment in his pocket before setting off for the owlery.

Draco took the stairs two at a time up to the Owlery, being in a rather good mood. Cresting the final stair, he started scanning the rows of owls in search of his large tawny. Not immediately spotting her, Draco walked deeper into the tower. He rounded a corner and spotted none other than Hermione Granger sitting on the floor, hugging her knees.

She looked up at his unexpected presence and quickly wiped at her red, puffy eyes. She regarded him for a moment before burying her face in her hands.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” said Draco softly. “I just need to send this letter and I will be gone.” He spotted his owl high on a perch above her head, stuck out his arm and called to his owl. She swooped down from her perch and landed on his arm with a soft hoot. He transferred her to a lower perch so he could retrieve the scroll of parchment from his pocket.

As he proceeded to tie the letter to the tawny’s leg, he heard Hermione begin to sob louder. He quickly took his owl to the nearest window, stroking her feathers. “Take this order to Flourish and Blotts and wait for them to send you back with my new books,” instructed Draco. She nipped his finger in acknowledgement and took off into the night.

Draco turned to leave, looking over at Hermione with an unfamiliar feeling of concern for the witch. She was usually so strong, it was odd seeing her so weak. In the past, he would have relished an opportunity like this to insult her and tear her down further, but now he had a strong urge to help her, to comfort her. Before he knew what he was doing, he walked closer to her, kneeled down and asked, “Are you okay Granger?”

Hermione sniffled as she looked up at him and choked, “What do you care? You can quit pretending to be nice. Go ahead and insult me already. Go on, I know you want to!”

“I’m not going to insult you,” Draco said defensively. “I don’t know why, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Real funny Malfoy. I know you; you don’t care about anyone but yourself!” she shrieked.

“You may think you knew the person I used to be, but you don’t know who I am now. I’m not the same person I was before,” said Draco running his hand through his hair in frustration. “I don’t expect you understand. I was honestly just trying to be nice.”

Hermione stared up at him, apparently at a loss for words, studying his face. He stared back at her, hoping for some reason that she would believe him. Realizing he was being foolish, and questioning why he even cared, he looked away and turned to leave.

“You do seem different,” squeaked Hermione. “But how can you expect me to believe you?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he confessed. “I guess I don’t. I know I can’t undo the past, but I really am sorry for everything I’ve ever done to you. It’s not like I expect us to be friends or for you to forgive me. I guess I just want us to be on civil terms, otherwise it is going to be a very long year for both of us.”

Draco continued to stand in front of her, waiting for her to say something when Hermione began to laugh manically. Draco was taken aback, confused by her reaction and immediately began to feel defensive. He didn’t expect her to believe him, but he didn’t expect her to laugh in his face either.

“I never thought I would say this, but you’re right Malfoy,” admitted Hermione continuing to laugh.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but what’s so bloody funny about that?” asked Draco defensively, with a furrowed brow.

“Oh, that’s not what I’m laughing about,” Hermione said covering her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter.

“Care to explain?”

“It’s just that I don’t want to be alone right now, yet I don’t want to be around any of my friends. You’ve been the best company I’ve had all day!” declared Hermione, throwing her hands up in the air.

“I find that hard to believe,” said Draco deprecatingly.

“I don’t expect you to believe me,” quipped Hermione. “I was just being honest. I don’t expect you to understand,” she said pointedly, throwing his previous words back at him.

“You know Granger, you’re actually quite funny,” said Draco chuckling. “You want to know something ironic? You’re actually the best company _I’ve_ had all day.” Draco and Hermione both laughed at the improbability of the moment. Draco’s head was reeling, not quite believing what was transpiring. Was he really laughing with Hermione Granger?

Draco’s stomach growled loudly, causing Hermione to look up at him questioningly. “You haven’t eaten dinner either?”

“I, erm, was planning on going after I sent my owl,” said Draco awkwardly. “But if you don’t want to be alone--”

Hermione looked up at him with an astonished look on her face. “I don’t want to be alone, but I wasn’t insinuating that you should stay. Go on down to dinner.”

“You need to eat too. Why don’t you come down with me? I mean, not _with_ me,” stammered Draco.

 “No offense, but I don’t want anyone to see me like this,” said Hermione, gesturing at her face.

“I know a charm that will make you look as if you never shed a tear. I mean, you can’t stay here all night, even if you don’t want to go to dinner,” said Draco. Hermione looked at him curiously, to which Draco replied, “Don’t ask.”

Hermione sat studying Draco for several moments, as if contemplating his proposal. “I don’t know if I can trust you. How do I know you aren’t going to jinx me?”

Draco ran his hand through his hair. She had a point, how could she trust him? He didn’t blame her for her hesitation. Not knowing what to say to convince her, Draco shrugged his shoulders.

“I hope I don’t regret this, but I really am quite hungry.”

Draco pulled his wand from his robes, shocked she was actually trusting him. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and without hesitation Draco crouched down in front of Hermione and recited the charm that would reduce her red, puffy eyes.

“There you go,” he said dully when finished.

Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out a small mirror, inspecting her face. She looked at Draco with amazement, stuffing the mirror back in her back and standing up. Draco stood up too and gestured for her to lead the way.

The pair walked down the deserted corridors in comfortable silence, lost in their own thoughts. As they approached the Great Hall Draco cleared his throat. “You go on ahead. I’ll be right behind you. I’m sure you don’t want anyone to think we came here together.”

Hermione turned to Draco, looking him directly in the eyes. “Thank you, Draco,” she said with a small smile and proceeded to walk into the Great Hall.

Draco stood in the corridor for several minutes utterly perplexed, not truly believing what just happened. He and Hermione just had a friendly interaction, which he never would have believed possible. Smiling to himself, Draco walked into the Great Hall.


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione sat in the library alone, late Saturday afternoon, having nothing else better to do since Harry, Ron, and Ginny were at the first Quidditch practice of the season. Having already finished her homework for the week, Hermione was trying unsuccessfully to read for leisure but her thoughts kept pulling her attention away. Her mind kept thinking back to the moment she shared with Draco earlier in the week, despite her best efforts against such thoughts.

She was beginning to feel rather alone this year, not having many classes with her best friends and rarely seeing them with Quidditch practice taking all their free time. Every time she felt alone, she found herself wishing she had another friend, which is what spurred the thoughts of Draco. Did she really think they could ever be friends? He did seem to be different though, even helping her when she was completely vulnerable. She could have sworn she saw kindness in his dark grey eyes that night. Those eyes; just the memory of them caused something to stir within Hermione. Before she had time to analyze what exactly she was feeling, Draco suddenly appeared in the library as if her thoughts manifested his physical presence.

Draco was carrying a stack of books, heading directly to Madam Pince’s desk. He placed the books upon her desk and stood there waiting for her to check them back in, looking around at the library’s occupants. Catching sight of Hermione, he quickly turned away, running his hand through his hair. Hermione couldn’t help thinking to herself how different he looked when he wasn’t scowling.

When Madam Pince finished inspecting the books, Draco turned to leave, catching Hermione’s eye. She attempted to give him a weak smile, but was unsure if he had noticed, before he walked away. Chastising herself for even caring if he noticed, she snapped her book shut, giving up. Deciding to head back to the Gryffindor tower and wait for her friends, Hermione stowed her book back into her bag and left the library.

*

Several hours later Hermione was relaxing in the common room, snuggled up next to Ron. Harry and Ginny were sitting together on the opposite couch and things seems to be back to normal. Ginny stretched, yawning loudly.

“Well, I’m exhausted. I’m going to bed,” said Ginny standing up from the couch.

“Yeah, me too,” said Harry, standing up and giving Ginny a kiss goodnight.

“You guys coming?” asked Ginny.

“I’ll be up in a moment, go on ahead,” said Hermione grateful to finally have a minute alone with Ron.

“Yeah me too mate,” said Ron stretching his arm around Hermione’s shoulders.

“Okay, goodnight then,” giggled Ginny and she and Harry walked up towards the dormitories.

When Ginny and Harry disappeared, Ron pulled Hermione closer and turned her face to meet his. Ron’s open mouth hastily found her own, his tongue desperately seeking to open hers. Hermione opened her mouth slightly, and Ron’s tongue rushed in, moving with rapid fire inside her mouth. Hermione did not break the kiss, despite feeling like Ron was trying to consume her.

Several minutes passed when Ron brought his hand to her chest, roughly squeezing one breast. Hermione let him continue kneading her breast, despite wanting to tell him to be more gentle. She then felt his other hand on her knee, quickly making its way up her thigh. Hermione jerked back, breaking their kiss.

“What are you doing?” gasped Hermione. “We’re in the common room! What if someone walked in?”

“Fine, let’s go sneak out and find an empty classroom,” urged Ron reaching for her again.

“I’m not sneaking out. Besides, a classroom isn’t that romantic,” scoffed Hermione, slapping his hands away.

“So then when will we ever have sex?” demanded Ron, beginning to scowl.

“I don’t know Ron,” said Hermione shaking her head. “When the time and place is right. What’s the rush?”

“Everyone else is shagging already Hermione. Everyone but us!”

“Oh, so you just want to shag me because everyone else is doing it?” screeched Hermione jumping up from the couch. “I’m not going to have sex just because I feel obligated to. I want it to mean something!”

“You’re nothing but a bloody tease!” shouted Ron, stomping off up the boy’s staircase.

Shaking with rage, Hermione climbed the stairs to her own dormitory, silent tears falling from her eyes.

 

****

Hermione woke up late the next morning, having completely missed breakfast. Hoping to patch things up with Ron before he left for quidditch practice, Hermione quickly got dressed and headed down to the common room.

Quickly scanning the room, and not seeing Ron, Hermione walked over to Harry and Ginny and asked, “Do either of you know where Ron is?”

“No. He hasn’t been back to the tower since breakfast,” said Harry looking up from the game of Exploding Snap he was playing with Ginny.

“Well if you see him, tell him I’m looking for him?” she demanded before taking off out of the portrait hole.

Hermione wandered the castle, looking everywhere for Ron without success. Realizing she would just have to try and talk to him after quidditch practice, she headed back to Gryffindor tower. Unwilling to spend another afternoon in the library alone, she decided to go for a run around the castle to clear her head.

Hermione was in the dormitory bathroom changing into her running clothes when she heard two of her fellow seventh-years come in.

“So, are you going to tell me now where you’ve been all day?” said a voice that she recognized as belonging to Joanne.

“Yes, now that we are _alone_ ,” said the other voice, which belonged to Niamh. “I was with Ron!” she said with a shriek.

“Ron Weasley?” inquired Joanne.

“Yes! We left the Great Hall together after breakfast, heading back to the tower and next thing I know we are snogging in a classroom.”

Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth to keep herself from making a sound, completely taken aback.

“Wait, what? How did that happen?” gasped Joanne.

“Come on, I’ll tell you all about it on the way to the library,” said Niamh as the dormitory door closed behind them.

Hermione stood in the bathroom stall, still in shock at the conversation she just overheard. So, Ron was snogging Niamh all day, when she was searching the whole castle for him to apologize for last night? Completely overwhelmed by the hurt that started to consume her, Hermione raced out of the castle, desperately seeking the mind-numbing relief that only a run could provide.

****

Draco decided to take a walk around the school grounds on Sunday afternoon. He had already finished all his homework and even started reading ahead, despite his utter lack of concentration. Draco had never been so bored in his life. He always had friends to entertain him before, but now he was alone most of the time, which made him start to feel lonely. Wishing he had a friend, Draco’s thoughts drifted back to Hermione. Why couldn’t he get her out of his head?

Draco rounded a corner of the castle, completely absorbed in his thoughts, when something crashed into him, knocking him to the ground and tumbling with him down the hill.

“What the bloody hell,” he yelled at the figure sprawled in the mud next to him. He realized it was a girl, based on the tight black pants that hugged every curve of her long legs, and reached over to help her as she tried to sit up.

Hermione looked over at him, stunned and began wiping mud off her cheek. He noticed her eyes were once more red and puffy.

“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, I didn’t expect--” she trailed off.

“It’s okay, you caught me by surprise, but I’m fine. Are you okay?” Draco asked, concerned.

Hermione burst into tears, burying her face in her hands. Afraid that she was hurt, Draco placed a hand on her shoulder. “I can take you to the hospital wing,”

“I don’t need to go to the hospital wing,” Hermione sobbed.

Draco let his hand fall, not sure what to do, but continued to sit there, not wanting to leave her sitting alone in the mud. After several minutes, her crying eased and Draco reached for her arm, gripping it gently.

“Here, let me at least help you up so you can get back up to your dormitory and get yourself cleaned up,” he offered.

“That’s the last place in the world I want to go right now, let alone covered in mud,” said Hermione, tears leaking from her eyes. “You wouldn’t happen to know the password to the prefects’ bathroom, would you?”

“No, but I know of someplace better,” replied Draco, thinking of the bathroom in his dormitory. “Come on, let’s go.” He stood up and pulled Hermione to her feet.

“Where are we going?” she asked curiously.

“Just trust me.”

Draco led Hermione back into the castle and up seven flights of stairs, careful to take the corridors he knew would be deserted. Realization dawned on Hermione when she recognized the familiar corridor. “Of course!”

Draco quickly paced in front of the wall, thinking of his dormitory, when the now familiar oak door appeared. Pushing the door open, he looked back at Hermione, who pursed her lips and said, “I’m not following you into a bathroom.”

“It’s not just a bathroom, come on,” he said, stepping through the door, holding it open for her.

Hermione hesitated for another second, but followed him inside. Draco closed the door behind her and watched her as she gaped at the room.

“What is this place,” she said turning to look at him.

“Erm, it’s my dormitory,” said Draco, sheepishly. Hermione looked at him confused so he pressed on. “I wasn’t going to stay in the Slytherin dormitory after they trashed my stuff, and that’s when I remembered the Room of Requirement. I’ve been staying here since Monday.”

“They trashed your things?” questioned Hermione.

“Yeah, but that’s not important,” he said waving his hand. “Come on, the bathroom in through here.”

Draco turned and led the way through his bedroom and into the bathroom, wishing he had bothered to make his bed this morning.

Draco looked back at Hermione’s astonished face when she stepped into the bathroom. Her mouth dropped open, “Oh my, this is incredible! I can’t believe you have this all to yourself.”

Draco smiled at seeing how pleased she was. “Feel free to use the shower or the pool, although I recommend the shower. The first knob turns on a waterfall from the ceiling.” Draco turned to leave her alone. “I will wait for you in the sitting room. Take your time,” he said closing the door behind him.

*

Draco removed his muddy robes and discarded them into the basket in the corner of his bedroom, wearing only his trousers and shirt. He walked to the sitting room and made himself comfortable, picking up a book to read.

Draco was unable to focus on the words in front of him, his mind kept drifting back to Hermione. He was unable to believe he actually brought her to his private dormitory; and what’s more, that she followed him! He wondered what had upset her in the first place, causing her to run him over.

Nearly half an hour later, Draco heard the shower turn off and picked back up the forgotten book on his lap, attempting to look like he was busy reading. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Hermione was peeking around the doorway of the bedroom, clutching a towel around her naked body.

“Erm, do you think I could borrow some robes?” Hermione asked, cheeks flushing.

Draco swallowed hard, feeling a tightening in his trousers. Unable to move, Draco croaked, “O-o-o-f course. Help yourself, they’re in the wardrobe.”

“Thanks,” said Hermione and shut the bedroom door.

Draco stared at the bedroom door, filled with desire. When had Hermione become so sexy? He supposed he always knew she was attractive, but he used to spend so much time hating her for being muggle born that he hadn’t really paid attention. He had no right to desire her now, not after all the horrible things he had done in the past. Draco felt his erection soften due to his disheartening thoughts and a moment later Hermione opened the bedroom door.

She stepped out wearing his Slytherin robes, which trailed the ground as she walked into the sitting room. Hitching up the robes slightly, she curled up on the couch across from him.

“I can’t thank you enough, Draco. I truly appreciate you helping me,” said Hermione, looking him directly in the eyes.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help, it’s the least I could do,” said Draco, bowing his head shamefully.

“Look, Draco,” began Hermione, wringing her hands nervously. “Again, I appreciate your help, but this is the second time you have been kind to me and I want to know why. We aren’t exactly friends. We have been enemies for years, you don’t just go from enemies to a helping hand overnight.” Hermione crossed her arms in front of her chest, waiting for Draco to respond.

Draco inhaled a deep, calming breath and sighed heavily as he raked his hand through his hair. “It’s kind of a long story, but I will try to explain the best I can.”

“I reckon everything started when Harry saved my life from the Fiend Fyre. I nearly died and it was my greatest enemy who saved my life; I couldn’t comprehend it. I hid out in the castle, afraid to rejoin the Battle. After some time, my parents found me and I followed them, assuming we were going to flee, but my father told my mother and I that we were to rejoin the battle and assist the Dark Lord. My mum went mental, shouting at him that she was done with the war and just wanted to keep her family safe. Well, as you can imagine, my father was not about to leave his precious Lord’s side, or allow his family to make him look bad. That’s when he cursed my mum, but before he was able to turn his wand on me, I hit him with a full body bind.” Hermione gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth, but before she could utter a word, Draco continued. “I had no idea what sort of curse he placed on my mum, all I knew is that I needed to find her help. I levitated her body and fled the castle, no one stopped to pay us any attention and I had no idea what was going on, all I cared about was her. As soon as I got us outside of the grounds I disapparated with her, going directly to St. Mungo’s.”

“She was unconscious for days, but I stayed with her the entire time. I heard news of the Dark Lord’s defeat and of my father being sent to Azkaban but the only thing I cared about was my mum. I got angry waiting for the Healers to find a way to revive her and began yelling at everyone I encountered, that’s when I met Healer Jones. It is because of her that I have changed. We talked every day for hours. At first, I was outraged at the things she said, but slowly everything began making sense. I realized that my father was an evil, cowardly man that tried to make me just like him. However, nothing I did was ever good enough; you always bested me in lessons, Potter bested me at Quidditch. I was a disappointment to him and constantly lived in fear of his punishments. I tried so hard to make him proud, but nothing was ever good enough. She made me realize that I no longer had to live under my father’s rule, that I did not have to abide by his beliefs. So that’s why I’m here, back at school. I hope that I will be able to secure a job after passing my N.E.W.T ’s and one day repair the damage that my father has done. I used to be proud that I was a Malfoy; I considered myself royalty, but now I feel just as disgusted as everyone else.” Draco looked back at Hermione, having avoided her eye contact throughout the majority of his story, waiting for her to speak.

Hermione was speechless. She had listened in awe while Draco spoke, dying to comment, but now she had no clue what to say. She knew that he was telling her the truth, the emotions that overcame him were too real to be fake. How could his father turn his back on his only child; on his wife?

“Your mum, is she--” Hermione trailed off, too afraid to speak the words.

“She’s alright. She was unconscious for a couple weeks and the recovery has been rough but she is okay now; well physically at least.” Draco continued to stare at her, awaiting further questions, surprised that after all he told her, she was actually concerned about his mother.

“Your father; was he abusive?” she inquired.

“Yes, in more ways than one, but I really don’t want to talk about it,” he said clenching his jaw.

“I understand. I am sorry if he ever hurt you because I bested you at lessons.”

“Don’t apologize! Why are you apologizing to me? I have been a complete and total asshole to you since the day we met!” yelled Draco in disbelief.

“Look Draco, that may be true, but you have not said one unkind thing to me this year. I would be an idiot if I didn’t recognize that you truly are different. I guess only time will tell if you have ulterior motives, but, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, I think you are being truthful with me. I would like to start over and let the past stay where it belongs.”

Draco’s eyes widened with surprise at her words. “Are you serious?”

“Well yes, I mean, I don’t want to waste my energy loathing you anymore,” confessed Hermione. “I’m so exhausted. I feel as if no one is who I knew them to be. Everyone has changed, and I’m not just talking about you. You think you know a person --” Hermione trailed off.

Draco watched Hermione, she seemed to be on edge, debating on whether to say more, wondering if she could actually trust him, confide in him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he finally asked.

“He’s such an ass, you know?” Hermione blurted. “I really thought he cared about me, but man was I wrong!” Hermione looked up at Draco and seeing the confusion upon his face, she realized she had been rambling on nonsense, Draco had no idea what she was talking about. “Ron and I had a row the night before last and I went to go find him today to talk to him and he was nowhere to be found. So, I decided to go for a run while he was at Quidditch practice to clear my head. I was changing in the bathroom in my dormitory when Niamh and Joanne came in, they apparently did not know I was there, because Niamh told Joanne that she and Ron had been snogging all day in some classroom!” Tears began to leak down her cheeks and her chest began to heave.

“That good for nothing git cheated on you?” Draco growled.

“Yes. No. I don’t know,” said Hermione, shaking her head. “I mean, I thought we were dating, but we never had a conversation about it. We never made anything official, so I suppose he didn’t think we were exclusive.”

“That’s a load of rubbish. Any decent sort of bloke only shags one woman at a time,” he scoffed.

Draco noticed her shift uneasily at his words, and assumed she was uncomfortable talking about her sex life with him. “You deserve to be treated better than that.”

“I know I do. I also know I have to confront him, but I just don’t think I am ready yet,” confessed Hermione.

“Well then don’t. Take some time to cool off, you may hang out here for a while if you wish. Feel free to read any of the books,” said Draco, smiling. He knew she couldn’t resist the offer to explore new books. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to go shower now and finally get this mud off me.”


	7. Chapter 7

Draco left Hermione in the common room and proceeded to take a shower, finally able to clean the mud off of himself. His mind was still reeling at the events that had just occurred. Had she really just agreed to forget the past? He did not expect her to believe the changes he has undergone so readily. He was unsure if he wanted to tell her everything that had happened over the summer; being that vulnerable was not something he was completely comfortable with, let alone to one of his enemies of the past 7 years. Yet, when he began recanting the events that had transpired since May, he couldn’t seem to stop; he didn’t want to leave anything out. Maybe it was because he was subconsciously aware that Granger would detect any omission as a sign of deception. He wasn’t completely sure why he wanted so desperately for her to believe he was a different person. Sure, he had to work with her all year in potions, but it’s not like they hadn’t worked together before without any major issues.

Draco’s thoughts kept buzzing around his head. He was so deeply lost in thought, he hadn’t realized just how long he had been standing under the waterfall. Not wanting to leave Hermione alone in his dormitory any longer, Draco quickly dried off and slipped on his Dark green pajama pants. Deciding he had better put on a shirt too, he slipped a plain black t-shirt over his head and left his room.

“Sorry I took so long, but that waterf--” Draco cut himself off upon seeing Hermione fast asleep, curled up on his sofa. She looked so peaceful laying there, her chest rising and falling slowly. Deciding to let her sleep in peace for now, he sat on the sofa opposite her and began to read his book, waiting for her to wake up on her own.

Several long hours had gone by and Hermione was still asleep. Draco was tired, himself, and was wanting to go to bed, but was pondering what to do with Hermione. Should he wake her so she could slip back into Gryffindor tower, or let her continue to sleep? He began to feel an intense desire to protect her and before he could question his own actions, Draco rose from the sofa. “Wingardium Leviosa,” he whispered, levitating Hermione off the sofa and carefully guiding her through his bedroom door. After pulling back the covers, he gently laid her down on his bed, her head resting on the pillow he usually slept on. Draco gently drew the covers over her and paused to watch her sleeping figure. Seemingly without control over his own body, he delicately tucked a stray lock of hair off of her face, smiling to himself as he did so.

Draco walked around the four-poster bed and retrieved the pillow from the other side and quietly shut the door behind him as he made his way to the sofa, where he resigned himself to be sleeping for the night. Draco settled himself onto the sofa; his last thoughts before drifting asleep were of Hermione.

 

_It had been a long day of classes and Draco was relieved for it to finally be over. He had been looking forward to relaxing in the privacy of his dormitory all day. Draco quickly paced in front of the stretch of wall outside the Room of Requirement and rushed eagerly into his haven. Deciding to start the evening off with a long hot bath, Draco set down his bag in the foyer and headed towards the bathroom, stopping abruptly upon seeing Hermione Granger sprawled seductively across his bed._

_Hermione was laying on her stomach, propped up on her elbows, wearing only a matching black lace bra and knicker set, her long brown hair tumbled down her shoulders.  She had her legs crossed at the ankles and was gently swaying them back and forth, making her perfectly rounded backside jiggle. Draco’s cock immediately stiffened as desire surged through his body._

_“Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to come shag me into next week?” Hermione said in an unfamiliar husky tone._

_Draco was flabbergasted but too afraid to say anything that might cause her to leave, so he quickly strode over to his bed, wrenching his robes off as he went. When Draco reached the end of the bed he started to unbutton his shirt; Hermione pushed herself onto her knees and reached for the top of his shirt, yanking it open, causing the torn buttons to fly off in all directions. She greedily ran her fingers over his taut chest and abs, moaning softly as she did so, filling Draco with courage. His hand quickly gripped a fistful of her hair and pulled her in, locking his lips around hers. Hermione immediately opened her mouth, granting his tongue access to explore her own, their tongues danced with urgency. With one hand still twisted in her hair, Draco brought his other hand to her lower back, running his hand up until it grazed the lace of her bra, and with skilled experience he pinched the fabric together until it sprang apart._

_Draco broke the kiss, eager to completely remove Hermione’s bra, freeing her large perky breasts from their restraints. He wasted no time cupping his hands around each breast, circling her hard nipples with his thumbs and once more ravishing her mouth with his tongue._

_Moans escaped Hermione as he continued to tease her nipples. She reached out, urgently unbuttoning his trousers, and wrenched them down, along with his black boxers. A little gasp escaped her and her eyes widened at the sight of his substantial shaft. She hopped off the bed and sank to her knees, wrapping her hand around Draco’s rock-hard cock, she began to stroke up and down, producing moans in return. She paused at the swollen tip, tracing her thumb around its considerable circumference, and looking up into his eyes, her tongue darted out and licked his pre-cum from the very tip. Draco groaned and she wrapped her whole mouth around his erection and began to stroke him with her tongue._

_Draco felt his release quickly approaching and gently tugged Hermione up by her hair and pushed her back onto his bed. She shifted back from the edge of the bed, her eyes filled with lusty desire. Draco gently tugged off her lacy black knickers and tossed them on the floor, admiring the slick juices that had already begun to pour from her pink folds. Unable to control himself, Draco plunged his face into her wet center, causing Hermione to cry out in ecstasy._

_He stroked his tongue up and down her pussy, teasing her swollen clit with the tip of his tongue with each pass. Suddenly her hips bucked and she pushed him off. Before he could register what happened, Hermione hopped off the bed, turned around and bent over._

_“I want you to fuck me from behind; fast and hard!” she demanded, looking over her shoulder at him._

_Draco’s cock twitched, keen to dive into her depths. He grabbed her firmly by the hips, lining his shaft up to her core and plunged himself inside. Hermione once again cried out, moaning loudly as he drove his cock into her over and over, her hips bucked, matching every thrust. Once again nearing his release, Draco reached his hand around and rubbed her clit wildly._

_“Oh god, Draco! I’m g-g-going to cum!” she screamed as her pussy tightened, squeezing his cock, sending him over the edge. With one last thrust, he exploded inside her as her body quaked with her own release._

 

Draco bolted upright, images of his dream still lingering in his mind, Brilliant, now he was dreaming of Granger, and not just any kind of dream, it had been a wet dream! He couldn’t remember the last time he had gotten off while asleep, it usually took a lot more effort for him to cum. Anxious that Hermione would wake up any moment and find him with wet trousers, he quickly used a vanishing spell to clean himself.

He began to wonder if he should wake her, it was still early but she might have time to sneak into her dormitory before everyone started to head down to breakfast. However, it may be better for her to wait until everyone was at breakfast to slip into her dormitory unseen. But if she did that, then she would miss breakfast. Why did he even care if she ate? He had helped her enough last night, even putting her to bed, in _his_ bed! Why had he done all that? Granger and he were not friends. Draco felt a pang in his chest at his thoughts. Sighing and running his hand through his hair, he shook off the negative thoughts. He wanted to be friends with Granger and he wasn’t quite sure why. And if he were being honest with himself, he was beginning to want more than just her friendship. He was no longer able to deny his attraction to her. Perhaps he just wanted to shag her; after all it had been over a year since he had been with a girl.

Resolving to stop questioning everything and just go with the motions; to just act on his feelings for once, Draco crossed to the bedroom door and opened it as quietly as possible and whispered, “Accio robes.”

Draco decided he would let Hermione sleep a bit longer, figuring the best way for her to slip back into Gryffindor Tower would be while everyone was at breakfast. He resolved himself to go down to the great Hall and grab a couple apples and scones for himself and Granger, so she would not have to go hungry. Draco threw on his robes and slipped out of his dormitory, letting the door softly thump closed behind him.

 

****

 

Hermione gently stirred, feeling completely rested, and inhaled deeply. An intoxicating scent filled her nose. Was that sandalwood? Why did her pillow smell like sandalwood? She let her eyes flutter open and panic set in. Where was she!?

Memories of the previous night came flooding back to her. She was in Draco’s bed. How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was laying on the sofa reading a book; she must have fallen asleep. Did that mean Draco carried her to bed? Slowly rolling over, she peeked at the other side of the bed and was relieved to find it empty. She was not sure what she was feeling right now, but she knew one thing for certain, she did not want to wake up next to Draco. Sure, she had told him last night that she just wanted to forget the past, but she wasn’t ready to share a bed with him!

Hermione suddenly sprang out of the bed and dashed to the door, throwing it open. What time was it? She quickly found her wand on the table in the common room and cast a time revealing charm. Bloody hell! She had seriously overslept! Breakfast had started about 15 minutes ago. She needed to get back to Gryffindor Tower and change into her own robes before potions. Why didn’t Draco wake her up? Where was he anyway?

Resigned to give him a piece of her mind in Potions, she raced out of the dormitory and headed for Gryffindor Tower, praying she would not run into anyone along the way.

 

****

 

Draco successfully knicked some breakfast for himself and Hermione and was hurrying out of the Great Hall when he was blasted off of his feet.

“Look at what we have here,” sneered Niles Harper. “It’s the ferret, scampering off to his hidey hole!” Baldock and Gosforth both guffawed at the sight of Draco sprawled on the stone floor.

“I swear I told you that you aren’t welcome here, Death Eater!” sneered Harper. Draco sat up, his hand flew to his pocket, desperately seeking his wand. “Oh, no you don’t,” growled Harper. “Adolebitque!”

A bone chilling scream reverberated through the corridor as Draco fell back to the floor writhing in pain. His skin felt as if it were on fire as large burns began appearing all over his body.

“Aww, why did you have to go and scream like a little Nancy boy?” sneered Harper. “I was just beginning to have fun.” Harper glared down at Draco with a menacing look upon his dark visage. 

“Let’s go boys, before someone comes along,” demanded Harper, motioning to the other two Slytherins.

As the three boys began to walk away, Harper turned back to Draco’s limp body. “I’m not through with you Malfoy. I’ll be seeing you again soon.” He then sauntered off without another backwards glance.

Once the three Slytherins disappeared from sight, Draco struggled to his feet, fighting the agonizing pain that enveloped his body. His first thought was that he needed to get to the Hospital Wing, that Madam Pomfrey would be able to heal him in an instant. However, he knew she would have questions as to how he sustained burns all over his body, and those questions would lead to the interrogation of Harper, Baldock, and Gosforth and that was the last thing he wanted. He knew that if he got them into trouble they would only retaliate, and worse this time. No, he would have to sort out the burns on his own, so he headed to the privacy of his dormitory.

 

****

 

Hermione was relieved she was able to sneak into the Gryffindor Tower as well as her dormitory without any incident. There had been a few younger Gryffindors still in the common room but all of her fellow 7th years had already gone down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Still nervous however, that someone may walk in on her still sporting Slytherin robes, Hermione immediately undressed, stuffing the robes under her pillow before racing off to the showers.

Fifteen minutes later Hermione was showered and dressed and began packing her bag with the books she would be needing for the day. Her stomach growled loudly, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before. She looked at the clock in the corner of the dormitory, silently cursing Draco for not waking her sooner, so that she might have had time for breakfast. Sighing loudly, she retrieved Draco’s robes from beneath her pillow and shook them out before carefully folding them, causing sandalwood to linger in the air. Who knew Draco smelled so good? Probably several girls from her original year, she thought, scoffing to herself. Without knowing why, she withdrew her wand, infusing her preferred vanilla scent into his robes before stuffing them into her bag, leaving Gryffindor Tower and heading down to the dungeons for Potions.

While walking to Potions, Hermione contemplated exactly how she intended on yelling at him for not waking her this morning. Normally she wouldn’t have cared if she had been intentionally mean to him, but after the kindness he had showed her, she did not want to appear too ungrateful.

Hermione entered the classroom early, taking her seat, hoping that Draco would arrive early as well, so that she might have a private word with him and return his robes without any onlookers. Her hopes were crushed as her fellow classmates kept filing in, yet Draco still hadn’t made an appearance. She watched the door, anxious for him to arrive when Harry, Ron, and Ginny walked through the door. She had completely forgotten about having to face Ron, her mind completely wrapped around thoughts of Draco. She quickly spun in her seat and kept her eyes trained to the front of the class, determined not to look behind her again.

A few moments later, Professor Slughorn walked to the front of the room, as the bell rang, and greeted the class. Hermione barely registered the instructions he was giving for today’s lesson, she was lost in thought about Draco. Why was he late? She hadn’t seen him this morning and now he wasn’t in class, was he avoiding her? Did he regret being kind to her?

Hermione was woken from her musing as her classmates began assembling their ingredients for the potion Professor Slughorn had posted on the board. As she scanned the instructions, her thoughts of Draco became increasingly irritated. Today’s potion was complex and would be very difficult to brew without her partner. With a heavy sigh, she set to work, thoughts of Draco still in the forefront of her mind.

Almost two hours had passed. Hermione was sweating from frantically chopping, squishing, and stirring ingredients without any help. She had just finished chopping a shrivelfig and tossed it into the steaming cauldron, which promptly turned black, emitting thick, grey smoke. Hermione immediately knew that she had done something wrong and frantically consulted the directions; she had forgotten she needed to add one piece at a time, stirring once counter-clockwise in between each piece. She knew she did not have enough time to start over and knew there would be no repairing the potion, so she ladled some of her failure into a bottle for grading, whilst cursing Draco for leaving her in this predicament. She never had bad marks and now this was the second time this year she would be failing an assignment. Hermione was more than enraged, and resolved herself to seek out Draco after class and tell him off for his cowardice!


	8. Chapter 8

For the first time in her life, Hermione had been the first student out of the door. The moment the bell rang, she sprang from her seat and ran out of the classroom, without bothering to give a single glance in the direction of Harry and Ron. She was on a mission, fueled by rage, and sprinted up to the seventh floor faster than should would have thought herself capable.

Once outside the Room of Requirement, Hermione stomped back and forth in front of the stretch of wall, demanding it to reveal Draco’s dormitory. After the third pass, a large oak door appeared in the wall and without pausing to knock, Hermione threw the door open and stomped inside.

She passed through the foyer and swiveled her head around to the common room, where she spotted Draco hunched over on the sofa, faced turned up in shock. “How in the bloody hell did you get in here?” he demanded.

“The better question is why the bloody hell are you here? Where have you been all morning?” she shrieked at Draco. The words had barely left her mouth when her brain had registered what her eyes were seeing.

Draco was shirtless and hunched over on the sofa, large red burns covered every centimeter of exposed skin she could see. Despite the look of shock upon his face, she could clearly see the pain and anguish he was suffering. Her anger at him disappeared and concern flooded her entire body for the boy before her.

“Merlin! What happened to you Draco?” she exclaimed.

“How did you get in here?” Draco demanded again.

“You had already revealed your dormitory me and let me in here, I had no problems getting in. We can discuss the intricacies of the Room of Requirement another time. Now what happened to you?”

“Nothing. I can sort this out myself. Just leave me alone.”

“Don’t be stupid. You are covered in burns! I need to get you to the Hospital Wing!”

“No!” shouted Draco. “That will only make matters worse. I can take care of myself.”

“What do you mean that it will make matters worse?” asked Hermione, furrowing her brow.

“With the Slytherins! I didn’t exactly do this to myself! If I go to the Hospital Wing, the retaliation will be even worse than this.”

Hermione swung her bag from her shoulder and began rummaging through its contents. “Why would the Slytherins do this to you?” she asked, pulling a bottle from her bag.

“We aren’t exactly on friendly terms,” Draco stated dully. “What is that?” He gestured to the bottle in her hand.

“Essence of Dittany. It should heal your burns, I just hope it is enough. Here, turn around,” she instructed, pulling the stopper from the bottle.

Draco hesitated for a moment, but knew it would be stupid to refuse help. He had been trying for hours to rid himself of the burns with no success and the pain was beginning to become unbearable. He shifted himself slightly, giving Hermione better access to his back. “You keep Essence of Dittany in your school bag?”

“It came in useful many times last year and now I always carry some with me, luckily for you.” Hermione delicately tipped the bottle, allowing a single drop to splash down on Draco’s back. His skin reacted immediately, healing itself as it soaked up the potion. “This may take a while. I don’t know if I have enough, so I’ll have to be careful to apply it evenly and sparingly.”

“Alright, take your time. I will try not to move,” said Draco, turning his head to look back at Hermione. “Thank you, Hermione.”

“You can thank me once I’ve finished,” said Hermione. “I just hope I’ve got enough.” She began to carefully drip the potion over the expanse of his back, leaving a trail of pale skin amongst the burned flesh.

Hermione was silent as she concentrated on healing Draco. She could only see the top half of his body and was worried the burns didn’t stop there; she knew she wouldn’t have enough to heal his entire body.

She was about half way done healing his back when she noticed the scars that crisscrossed over the now-healed flesh. She reached out her hand and delicately traced her finger along the length of a particularly large scar. Draco shivered at the contact and turned to look at Hermione, who peeked shyly through her long lashes. “Essence of Dittany doesn’t heal old wounds. Where did you get these scars, Draco?”

“My father,” Draco said plainly.

Rage surged through Hermione. How could anyone do this to their child? What else had he suffered from at the hands of his father? Suddenly Hermione was filled with guilt. All these years she despised Draco and saw him as nothing more than a spoiled daddy’s boy. Now however, she knew the truth; he tried so desperately to please his father, to avoid punishment.

“Oh, Draco!” she gasped as a single tear trickled down her cheek. “I never knew-”

Draco studied Hermione, astonished that she had just shed a tear over his wounds. Did this mean that she actually cared for him to some degree? The pain in her eyes made his heart lurch. He knew in that moment that he could no longer deny his growing feelings for her.

“It’s okay Hermione, I’m free from him now. He will never hurt me again. Don’t cry.” He reached out his still-burned hand and brushed away the tear from her check with his thumb, gently cupping her cheek in the process. His heart was pounding in his chest, their gazes locked on each other, each overflowing with emotions. In that moment, Draco had the overwhelming desire to kiss Hermione.

Hermione sniffled and slowly pulled away from Draco’s touch. “I’m far from finished, this is going to take longer than I expected. If we ever plan on leaving this room, I need to get back to work. Here, turn around,” she said placing her hands on his shoulders, turning his torso back around.

Before long, she had finished with Draco’s back and decided to move on to his front. “I think it would be easiest if you just lay down,” she instructed him.

Draco slid forward on the couch and laid down flat, deliberately avoiding her gaze. He was afraid she would see the lingering glimmer of desire in his eyes and be scared off. He was less concerned with losing the potion, than with losing her company.

As flawless ivory flesh replaced the burns that covered his chest, Hermione noticed for the first time the curves of Draco’s chiseled torso. A blush creeped over her cheeks and she did her best to hide behind her hair. She always saw Draco as a lanky boy, but the man in front of her now was no longer a boy and definitely not lanky. He was sexy. She, Hermione Granger, thought Draco Malfoy, arch nemesis of her best friend, was sexy. She expected to feel guilty, however was surprised to realize she wasn’t the slightest bit guilty. In fact, she felt rather smug. Her friends hadn’t been acting like very good friends lately and it was no business of theirs who she was attracted to!

Despite her pleasure in feeling like she was getting back at Ron in a sense for the way he had treated her, Hermione still felt embarrassed being this close to Draco’s half naked body, so she worked as quickly as possible to finish healing him.

Nearly an hour had passed before Hermione had finished healing every centimeter of Draco’s exposed skin. She held the bottle up to the light and swirled its contents; only a few drops remained. “I’m afraid that’s all there is. How bad is the rest of your body?” she inquired.

“Not nearly as bad. If you don’t mind, I’ll use what’s left on the worst of it,” Draco responded.

“Alight then,” she said stoppering the bottle and handing it to him. “I will need to brew some more to replenish my stock. I can give you some more after it’s done but it will take a few days to brew and I’ve got to find a private place to make it.”

“You can brew it here if you’d like. I can even help you with it,” suggested Draco.

“I suppose. I really don’t have the time to search for another place.”

“Right then. Erm, you’re welcome to rest here until Arithmancy, I’m going to go to the bathroom and apply the rest of this potion,” said Draco, awkwardly.

“Thank you, but I’m going to run to the Great Hall and get some food. I’m starving, I haven’t eaten since dinner the night before last!”

“Of course. Why didn’t you go directly to lunch after potions?”

“I was so angry with you,” Hermione confessed. “You didn’t wake me up this morning, you were gone when I woke up, and then you didn’t show up to potions and I flunked the assignment. Food was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to hex you into next week!”

“I’m terribly sorry Hermione. I went down to the Great Hall to bring you something for breakfast, so you could sneak back into Gryffindor Tower while everyone was at breakfast. But that is when I was ambushed by Harper-” Draco trailed off.

“You were bringing me breakfast?” asked Hermione, mouth agape.

“Well, erm, yeah. We didn’t eat dinner last night and I figured you would be hungry. It’s no big deal. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you; sorry I let you down.”

“It’s not your fault. I know that now.” Hermione blushed, “I’m sorry for thinking the worst. I truly appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

“No, thank you,” said Draco, staring directly into Hermione’s milk chocolate eyes. “Now go, before you miss another meal. I will see you in Arithmancy.”

Hermione was mesmerized by the kindness and sincerity he regarded her with. She hesitated for just a moment, staring back into Draco’s grey eyes, then quickly picked up her bag and dashed out the door.

****

It took Draco quarter of an hour and some considerable contorting to heal the worst of the burns that covered his buttocks. If he hadn’t been so preoccupied with Hermione being so close to him, he would have thought to ask her to save more potion to heal his entire backside. Being able to sit would have been more important than having a fully healed chest; he didn’t have to sit on his chest. It was going to be rough week until Hermione finished brewing more, however, he was grateful to have the relief that he did. He didn’t know how much longer he would have been able to suffer without her help.

Draco now had a quarter of an hour to get to Arithmancy, so he quickly changed his robes., grabbed his bag and left his dormitory. He didn’t have far to walk, but was eager to get to class early so he could delicately settle himself into his seat without anyone noticing his discomfort.

Draco rounded the corner and entered the classroom and was surprised to find that Hermione was already there, sitting at her desk, nose buried deep in a book. He smiled to himself and crossed the room to his desk, which was behind Hermione. Sitting on the corner of his desk was a bright green apple and a sandwich.

Draco slid into his desk quietly and leaned forward to whisper into Hermione’s ear, “Thank you for bringing me lunch. Green apples are my favorite.”

Hermione swiveled her head, gave Draco a smile, then turned back to the book she was reading. Draco wasted no time biting into the apple, determined to inhale his lunch before class began in three minutes.

Draco stuffed the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth when Professor Vector approached the front of the class.

“Please get out your books and turn to Chapter 3. We will begin today’s lesson by reviewing what you should have read for homework. Some of you did quite well with last lesson’s review. Others of you, however, seem to have had your minds elsewhere,” Professor Vector stated pointedly, while looking around the class, making Hermione squirm guiltily in her seat as scrolls of parchment floated around the room, seeking their owners.

Draco’s heart began to race as he anxiously awaited his scroll of parchment. In front of him, Hermione let out an audible groan as her scroll touched down on the desk before her. Draco’s own scroll arrived only seconds after Hermione’s, leaving him no time to ponder her uncharacteristic dislike of receiving marks. He unfurled the piece of parchment and quickly scanned it, searching for the failing mark he was certain he received. However, Draco’s mouth dropped open when he saw the bright red “O” scrawled at the bottom. _This has got to be some sort of mistake._  He let the parchment fall onto the desk in front of him, and was surprised to see his own expression reflected at him, on Hermione’s face. She was staring at him, awestruck.

“Miss Granger, please turn around and give the class an overview of the four theories discussed in Chapter 3,” demanded Professor Vector, with an unusual smile on her face.

_What in the name of Salazar Slytherin was going on? Was his future with Hermione really filled with love and desire? Surely Professor Vector overlooked a mistake somewhere. And why was Hermione staring at him like she knew what his parchment said? And what was with the smirk on Vector’s face?_

Draco’s thoughts were racing and he hadn’t heard a word Hermione said. He wasn’t the type of person to question a perfect mark, but surely, he had made a mistake so he decided to quell his racing thoughts by having a word with Professor Vector at the end of class.

Two torturously long hours later, Professor Vector dismissed the class. As most of the class headed for the door, Draco tentatively approached Professor Vector’s desk at the front of the room, little did he know, Hermione was right behind him.

“May I help you two?”

Draco swiveled his head around to see who else she was referring to and his heart began to race when he saw Hermione standing behind him. “I wanted to speak to you about last week’s assignment,” Draco stated vaguely.

“So did I, but I would like to speak with you in private,” Hermione added.

“Both of you received outstanding marks. What questions could you possibly have?” asked Professor Vector, the smirk returning to her face.

“I-I-I think I made an error and you may have overlooked it,” squeaked Hermione.

“How noble. However, I double checked both yours and Mr. Malfoy’s paper, as you both had the same results, and there were no errors.”

Draco whipped his head back around to look at Hermione. Her cheeks were flushed and she refused to look at him.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to attend to,” Professor Vector said with finality as she stood to leave.

Draco returned to his desk to collect his bag as Hermione ran from the room, without giving him another glance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intended to hold out and post chapters every couple days, until I ran out.. but I just can't do that to you guys. So here is everything that I have thus far. This last scene stumped me for sometime. Sorry if it is a bit rough, please give me feedback and let me know. I will work on writing as quickly as I can. I love this story and cannot wait to finish it.


	9. Chapter 9

Twenty minutes later, Draco was back in his dormitory pacing the length of the sitting room. So apparently, he and Granger did the assignment about each other. Both of them got the same ridiculous results, that their future was to be filled with love and desire. Draco could no longer deny, after last night and this afternoon, that he desired her. He would be a fool if he didn’t. Anyone could see the beautiful, sexy woman she had become. But love? That was a whole other matter. Even if, hypothetically, he fell in love with her, could she ever learn to love him? After everything he did to her and her friends? Sure, she had said she wanted to leave the past in the past last night, but love was still a far cry away from the fragile friendship they were developing.

 _There are things which are beyond your control. You must learn to take each moment as it comes._ Healer Jones’ words popped into Draco’s head, instantly calming him. She had helped him so much over the past few months and knew it would be best to heed her advice. Perhaps he would sit down later and write her a letter about everything that had transpired since his return to Hogwarts. She would be able to give him insight, tell him the right way to approach the situations he was now in. At least he had the most important thing under control: schoolwork.

After all his worrying, he didn’t actually fail his Arithmancy assignment, which meant so far he had excellent marks in his classes.

“Merlin’s Balls!” Draco cursed out loud. He had nearly forgotten about missing his Potions lesson this morning. Hermione claimed to have failed, regardless, he wasn’t there. Most likely he wouldn’t receive any marks. Perhaps if he went to Slughorn and explained his absence, he might be able to make up the lesson somehow.

Draco checked the time. It was nearly time for dinner, he might be able to catch Slughorn in his office before he went up to the Great Hall. Without any further delay, Draco left his dorm and headed for the dungeons.

He was on high alert as he navigated the corridors of the dungeons, wand at the ready, in case he was unfortunate enough to run into Harper or any other unforgiving Slytherins. Luck was on his side as he rapped on Slughorn’s office door without incident. Draco anxiously awaited a reply and was relieved to hear Slughorn invite him to enter.

Draco pushed open the door and gave Slughorn an uneasy smile.

“Professor, I came to apologize for missing your lesson this morning. I swear I was not skiving off, I was unwell, but erm, I don’t have a note from Madam Pomfrey—” Draco trailed off as he shifted nervously on the spot. “I was hoping you would permit me to make up the lesson somehow.”

“Mr. Malfoy, you appear to be in rather fine health and I’m afraid, with no note from Madam Pomfrey I will not be able to excuse you from class today,” Slughorn stated simply.

“But Sir, I could not go to Madam Pomfrey.” Draco suddenly started to panic. If Slughorn demanded answers, he would certainly be in trouble with McGonagall, and she had already warned him that he was treading a very fine line. Thinking quickly, a feasible white lie began to develop in his mind. “Sir, the Headmistress warned me that I was under close supervision. I do not want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself, as I wish to remain at school. This morning, after I left breakfast, someone hexed me,” Draco paused for effect. “I didn’t see who it was. My whole body was covered in burns. Most of it still is. I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly. I didn’t want to go to the Hospital Wing, so I found a private classroom to hide out in, while I tried to cure myself. I was failing miserably, but Granger happened to find me. She had some Essence of Dittany in her bag and used what she had to heal as much as she could.”

“Ah, Miss Granger is quite the extraordinary witch,” sighed Professor Slughorn. He ran his hands over his considerable stomach, as if helping to arrange his thoughts. Draco knew better than to speak, he knew it would be best to just allow Slughorn to take in the information and not press him for a decision. “Well, I suppose that I could bend the rules just this once. You have been one of my most exemplary students, behind Miss Granger, of course. I believe it was your absence, and lack of ability to assist her today in class, that lead to her poor performance today.”

“If there is any way that I could rectify that, I would be more than willing to take on any extra assignments,” Draco nearly pleaded.

Professor Slughorn regarded Draco curiously.

“You wish not only to help yourself, but Miss Granger as well?”

“If possible, yes.”

“Well, I will give you both until the end of the day Friday to present me with a resubmission of the Blood Replenishing Potion that we covered in today’s lesson,” said Professor Slughorn, while absentmindedly continuing to rub his stomach. “Additionally, I would like the two of you to brew a few batches of Essence of Dittany, as I’m sure you have further need of it, as you indicated and I’m assuming Miss Granger would like to replenish her supply. You may use what you need and she can keep what she needs and I will require you to give the remaining amount to myself. I will restock mine and Madam Pomfrey’s supply closet. Unfortunately, I have not had time to restock all of the usual potions we have on hand.”

“Wow, thank you Professor! I will let Hermione know right away, I’m sure she will be more than pleased.”

“I’m sure she will be. Now, I am trusting you to take what you need from the supply closet. I do keep it locked, but the password is “unity,” help yourself if I am not around. Now, there is empty classroom 3 doors down on the right from the Slytherin Common Room that you and Miss Granger may use.”

“Sir, I do not mean to push my luck, but I don’t exactly have many friends down here these days. Would it be alright if we were to use another empty classroom on one of the upper floors?” Draco asked hesitantly.

“Hmmm, I suppose that would be alright. If any Professor questions you, please refer them to myself. It also may be wise to place some basic wards around the classroom while not in use so that your work is undisturbed. Now, I believe it is time for dinner,” said Slughorn, while once again rubbing his middle.

“Thank you again, Sir. I’m going to go find Hermione,” stated Draco, and quickly departed.

Dinner was just beginning, and Draco knew that was when the Great Hall was the busiest, so wishing to avoid as many people possible, Draco decided to head for the owlery and send Hermione a note, requesting her to meet with him tonight after dinner.

***

 

Hermione was so distracted by her thoughts of Draco and her Arithmancy assignment that she nearly forgot her anger at Ron. Nearly. That was until she entered Gryffindor tower and saw Ron sitting at a table with Niamh. Niamh’s head was thrown back in a fit of laughter, apparently at something Ron had said. Hermione just stood in the entryway and watched the pair for a couple moments.

Ron looked at ease sitting with Niamh. He looked happy.

Realization dawned on Hermione. She wasn’t the least bit jealous, mad yes, but not jealous. She cared for Ron, but was beginning to realize that perhaps, she didn’t actually have romantic feelings for him. If she did, she most certainly would have felt jealous, which she didn’t.

Taking a deep breath, steeling her nerve, Hermione headed directly towards the couple.

Ron spotted Hermione once she was only a couple paces away, all the color from his face rapidly draining away. He opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione raised her hand, cutting him off.

“Look Ron, I know about the two of you and I just want to let you know that it’s okay. You are one of my best friends and I wish nothing but happiness for you. I know I obviously was not giving you what you need, so I understand you sought attention elsewhere. I am however, furious at you for not speaking with me first. I know we were never officially a couple, but I do not deserve to be treated like that.” Hermione paused at the look on Ron’s face, “Don’t worry Ronald, I will not be mad forever. You should know me better by now. I will require a proper apology at a later time from you, once you have had time to come up with something sincere. Now, I’m going to go to the library to study before dinner. See you there?”

Ron and Niamh just stared open-mouthed at Hermione as she turned on her heel and headed back out of the portrait hole.

 

***

 

Hermione felt calmer and more at peace than she had all week. Confronting your problems head-on had a way of evoking that peace. Despite her calm, clear mind, the last thing she wanted to do was study, so she took up residence in a small armchair in a secluded corner of the Library near a window. She just wanted to bask in the serenity that washed over her. This was her final year at Hogwarts. She came back to pass her N.E.W.T.s so she could move forward in her life. She decided she would stop letting trivial matters bother her and make her lose focus on what was truly important. They had just survived a war, there was no more room for hate and animosity. What will be, will be.

Hermione was smiling to herself, meditating on her plans for the year, when a rapping on the tiny window roused her from her musings. A large, tawny owl was perched on the window’s ledge, a small scroll of parchment attached to its leg. She quickly unlatched the window and relieved the owl of the missive. The owl quickly took off and Hermione unrolled the parchment.

 

_Hermione,_

_I have good news. Please meet me tonight, after dinner around 8pm. You know where. Bring your Potions supplies._

_-D_

 

Hermione read the note twice. Obviously, the note was from Draco. What good news could he possibly have? She decided it would be worth her time to find out, considering she didn’t think he would request to see her without good reason.

She checked the time and figured she should head down to dinner. She would have ample time to enjoy a meal with her friends before she had to meet up with Draco.

 

***

 

Dinner passed by quickly and without incident. Her and Ron were civil and acted as if nothing had occurred a few hours prior, for which Hermione was grateful. She was eager to move forward and have everything resume back to normal.

She told her friends she had a quick errand to run, but that she would meet them back in the common room soon. They knew better than to ask where she was going, most likely assuming she planned to stop by the Library, so Hermione headed up to the seventh floor.

She paced back and forth in front of the blank stretch of wall, and when the now familiar oak door appeared, she let herself in.

“Draco? I know I’m a bit early, but are you here?” she called out as she slowly walked through the foyer and headed towards the sitting room.

“In here,” Draco called back. “I’m glad you came. As I said in my letter, I have good news.”

Hermione stood awkwardly in the doorway, waiting for Draco to share his supposed good news.

“Please, have a seat,” Draco gestured at the couch she had curled up upon the night before.

“Ugh, thanks but I’m in quite a hurry. What is it that you needed to tell me?”

“I went to speak with Slughorn earlier this evening, and long story short he is going to let us make up our assignment from this morning’s lesson,” Draco said, a small smile creeping into the corners of his mouth.

“What? How? Oh my gosh, thank you,” Hermione exclaimed and without thinking, she threw her arms around him. It took only a moment for her to realize who she just wrapped her arms around quickly pulled back, her face turning an embarrassing shade of red. “Sorry, I got carried away.”

“That’s quite alright. I knew you would be pleased, I just underestimated how much,” he said teasingly.

If possible, Hermione’s blush increased. “So, what is it that we have to do?” she asked as she tucked he hair back behind her ears.

“Two things. First, we have until the end of the day on Friday to brew a new batch of Blood Replenishing Potion. We also have to brew several batches of Essence of Dittany.”

“That’s all?” she said, eyes wide with delight.

“Yeah, shouldn’t be too difficult. He gave me permission to use anything in the supply closet and said you may replenish your stock and I can use what I need, then we are to give the rest of it to him,” explained Draco.

“Wait, he knows I need to replenish my stock? What exactly did you tell him?”

“I told him a version of the truth. Enough to explain my absence, but not anything that would get either of us into trouble. The last thing I need is to be expelled,” Draco confessed.

“Well, I suppose no harm done then. Wow, I cannot thank you enough.” Hermione stared at Draco, surprised, once again at his actions. “So, when would you like to get started?”

“Well, considering I still have painful burns covering my body, and that it will take several days for the Essence of Dittany to be ready, I would like to start on it as soon as possible,” admitted Draco. “However, I know you said you were in a hurry, so if you have plans, I can start on that one by myself.”

“That’s not really fair, considering it is now our assignment and not just an extracurricular,” said Hermione, pulling her bag over her head and placing it on the couch. “I guess I can help you get it started. Would you mind if I transfigured your coffee table into a more suitable table for brewing potions?”

Hermione hardly waited for Draco’s consent before pulling her wand from her robes and transfiguring the table in front of her. Once it closely resembled one from the Potions classroom, Hermione waived her wand and sent the furniture sailing around the room, rearranging it into a more workable space.

Once she was satisfied with the new layout, she summoned her bag and pulled her potions kit from within its depths, placing it on the table before her. She turned to look at Draco, a satisfied smile spread across her face.

“Well don’t just stand there! Come help me,” demanded Hermione.

“Erm, aren’t you forgetting something?” Upon seeing the puzzled look on Hermione’s face, Draco pressed on, “A cauldron. I don’t know about you, buy mine is down in the dungeons.”

“Oh, right you are. Just a moment.”

Hermione closed her eyes in concentration, and began to ask, in her mind, for the room to provide the other necessary items they would need for brewing potions, including a cauldron. Before she opened her eyes to check and see if the Room of Requirement had responded, she heard a small gasp from Draco and knew the room had acquiesced.

“How did you do that?” Draco asked, sounding impressed.

“I do not pretend to know all the mysteries of the Room of Requirement, but I do know that it will provide almost everything you ask of it. As you well remember, my friends and I used it many times for our secret Defense Against the Dark Arts training back in 5th year, that is before you and your friends caught us and turned us over to the miserable hag, Umbridge,” said Hermione nonchalantly as she turned to look at Draco.

“I used to be such a prat, I know,” said Draco in earnest, while running his hand nervously through his hair. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m just giving you a hard time. The past is in the past remember?” she said, smiling and giving Draco a tiny nudge in the arm with her elbow. “Anyway, what do you plan on doing to the Slytherins that attacked you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well you’ve got a plan to get them back, haven’t you?”

“No. I’m just going to avoid them as much as possible,” Draco said flatly.

“You’re just going to avoid them? Not retaliate? I know you’ve changed in all Draco, but you can’t let them walk all over you! You must stick up for yourself, otherwise they will become insufferable. Trust me I know.” Hermione regarded Draco intently, her brow slightly furrowed.

“Look, I know that is what the old me would have done and every fiber of my being is screaming to act upon my desire for revenge,” Draco growled with gritted teeth. “But I just can’t. I can’t afford to get expelled. I just want to keep my head down and pass my N.E.W.T.s.”

“Fine. If you won’t do something, then I will. And don’t you dare try and tell me no,” Hermione said abruptly, cutting Draco off before he could articulate a refusal. “Those bloody toe rags need to be taught a lesson. Don’t worry, they won’t think you had anything to do with it.”

“Why would you do that? Why would you come to my defense?”

“It’s not all about you. I loathe bullies. And I’m tired. Sick and sodding tired of bullies. I helped eradicate Voldemort, a few Slytherins should be no problem,” Hermione said with a wink.

“You’re a bit terrifying, you know that, right?” chuckled Draco, as he playfully nudged Hermione in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey loyal followers.. I'm trying to stick to a schedule and post a new chapter every week. I plan on posting sometime over the weekend, so I'm a day or so behind right now, but hopefully I will get my butt in gear. I couldn't wait to post this, so I haven't had a chance to even read it over yet and do any necessary editing. Please let me know if anything stick out at you. I will look to edit it sometime this week. Sorry for any grammatical issues. 
> 
> Also, I'm writing a paper about fanfiction for my English class. I was hoping some of you may be willing to provide me feedback that I could include in my paper. I specifically want to know what you like about the fanfiction websites you use as well as what you think could be improved. Please just send me a message if you wish to help, if not thank you for reading and I promise I wont post anymore personal stuff... BLECH!!!


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